WILMINGTON, N.C. -- Army Sgt. Adam Holcomb was sentenced to 30 days in prison Tuesday and was reduced in rank for assaulting and maltreating Pvt. Danny Chen, 19, a Chinese American who endured abuse and ethnic slurs before committing suicide in Afghanistanon Oct. 3. A court-martial panel of 10 service members could have sentenced Holcomb, 30, to a maximum of two years in prison with a dishonorable discharge. He was convicted at Ft. Bragg, N.C., on Monday of assault and maltreatment for dragging Chen across a rocky pathway, bloodying his back, and for calling him "dragon lady" and other slurs.

FT. BRAGG, N.C. -- A court-martial found Army Sgt. Adam Holcomb guilty Monday of maltreatment and assault of Pvt. Danny Chen, a 19-year-old Asian American soldier who committed suicide in Afghanistan last Oct. 3. But a panel of 10 service members found Holcomb not guilty of more serious charges of negligent homicide, reckless endangerment, communicating a threat and hazing. Prosecutors had accused Holcomb, 30, of hounding Chen into committing suicide by subjecting him to hazing, physical abuse and ethnic slurs.

Three Los Angeles County law enforcement officers were arrested Wednesday in a pair of unrelated incidents - one involving accusations of perjury and the other the alleged theft of thousands of dollars during narcotics investigations, authorities said. At the Sheriff's Department, 28-year veteran Bonnie Bryant III was arrested by the department's internal investigators after a two-week probe. The sergeant, who was in charge of an investigative team, is accused of stealing thousands of dollars, not from evidence lockers but at the scene of drug probes, authorities said.

FT. BRAGG, N.C. -- Sgt. Adam Holcomb bombarded Danny Chen, a shy, 19-year-old Army private, with racial slurs and bloodied Chen's back by dragging him across rocky ground for disobeying a platoon rule, several former members of Holcomb's platoon testified at his court-martial Wednesday. Military prosecutors elicited the testimony in the second day of the proceedings to buttress charges that Holcomb hazed and hounded Chen, a Chinese American, into committing suicide at a remote combat outpost in Afghanistan on Oct. 3. Holcomb, one of eight soldiers charged in connection with Chen's death, faces charges of negligent homicide, assault, reckless endangerment and other counts. Holcomb, 30, is the first to face court-martial in a case that has focused renewed attention on allegations of hazing and racism in the Army, where Asian Americans are a distinct minority.

Multi-star generals attended his Arlington National Cemetery funeral. His name adorns a fighter jet. His words echo in the halls of Congress. Since Marine Sgt. William C. Stacey, age 23, was killed Jan. 31 on a remote hillside inAfghanistan'sHelmand province, a letter he wrote to his family has gained much attention from politicians and the news media. "It's quoted by liberals, conservatives and generals and people across the political spectrum. They use it in different ways.

It happened so quickly, according to a report by prosecutors: A shot, a flash and a struggle as two Santa Maria police sergeants tried to subdue an officer they were trying to arrest. Alberto Covarrubias Jr. knew he was under investigation for an alleged sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl. While working a DUI checkpoint, he backed away from the two sergeants who had come to arrest him, fired a shot, and, in the fight that followed, was fatally wounded by fellow officer Matthew Kline - the best man at Covarrubias' wedding just three weeks earlier.

Sgt. 1st Class Walter Taylor's life collapsed in four interminable seconds in a dusty field in central Afghanistan. His convoy was reeling from a roadside bomb, his fellow soldiers were engaged in combat with insurgents - and a mysterious black car had just screeched to a stop in the middle of the firefight. Some nine minutes later, a black door opens. Second 1: A figure dressed in dark, bulky clothing emerges. Second 2: The figure begins walking toward the trunk.

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. - Army Sgt. John M. Russell declined to enter a plea at his arraignment Friday on charges of killing five fellow service members at a combat stress clinic in Iraq, as defense lawyers pushed for new psychological evaluations that could help forestall the death penalty. At a hearing in a small courtroom at the base where Russell is being held, defense attorneys argued that Russell should be transferred temporarily to Pennsylvania to allow a full evaluation by Dr. Robert Sadoff, one of the nation's premier experts in forensic psychiatry.

ART English musician Will Sergeant is famous for being the guitarist in the darkly melodic Liverpool rock band, Echo & the Bunnymen. Now he's turned his attention to art, opening his first major United States exhibition, "My Own Worst Enemy," at the Substrate Fine Art Gallery. Abstract paintings, collages and screen prints open a window on this brash entertainer's inner vision. Substrate Fine Art Gallery, 709 N. Ridgewood Place, L.A. 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Fri. Free. (323) 833-6459; facebook.com./substratefineartgallery.

SAN DIEGO - A Marine sergeant who criticized President Obama on Facebook was notified Wednesday that he is being dismissed from the service with an other-than-honorable discharge. Gary Stein, 26, a nine-year veteran who served in Iraq, will be demoted to lance corporal, and his discharge status will make him ineligible for most federal veterans benefits, after Brig. Gen. Daniel Yoo accepted the unanimous recommendation of an Administrative Separation Board. The panel found that he made disparaging comments about Obama that were detrimental to good order and discipline and violated military law. Civilian lawyers for Stein said they would continue to fight in federal court to prevent Stein from being dismissed or to win his reinstatement.